UK police stumble on clues to Hakim Said’s murder
5 September 2011
ISLAMABAD — A letter likely to point to the murderers of former Sindh governor Hakim Said has been reportedly recovered by Scotland Yard from the house of slain Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq.
Earlier, several MQM workers, allegedly involved in Said’s murder on October 17, 1998, were arrested and subsequently sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court. However, on May 31, 2001, the Sindh High Court acquitted all the accused in the case for failure of the prosecution to produce terrified witnesses.
The letter, said to have been written to Dr Farooq by one Javed Turk, is part of a number of documents impounded from the MQM leader’s house as part of the ongoing investigation into his murder.
Said, who established Hamdard Foundation in 1948, was a well known scholar and philanthropist. After his murder, the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif dismissed the province government of his party and imposed governor’s rule in the province.
Translated documents, recovered from Farooq’s house, are helping Scotland Yard to zero-in on suspects in Farooq’s murder case, sources said.
Scotland Yard has recently questioned an activist of the MQM. Former Sindh senior minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza has accused the MQM of assassinating Hakim Said and Imran Farooq saying the orders came from MQM chief Altaf Hussain. The MQM has rejected the allegation as absurd.
Knowledgeable sources have claimed that the MQM UK chapter has taken strong exception to the direction the murder case probe has taken and has even reportedly protested to the UK government. Altaf Hussain last month accused Pakistan’s intelligence agencies of feeding poisonous material to London police against him and his party.
Altaf has been out of public view for past about a fortnight amid reports that London police had stopped him from escaping to South Africa citing security reasons. The British High Commissioner in Islamabad has, however, refuted reports that Altaf is under house arrest. In a belated clarification, the MQM said he has been unwell for past two weeks and has recovered fast.